Confectionery products enjoyed by consumers include products having a confectionery or other edible center that is coated with a sucrose-based coating by the process of hard panning.
It is known that the color of a food product can convey many different product attributes to the consumer, such as good taste, quality, freshness, and even a sense of fun. Since the coating is the first component of a hard panned confectionery that a consumer sees, it is desirable to use colorants in the coating which convey the desired product attributes.
However, in using colorants in the coating, it is often technically challenging to provide a desired hue while also delivering other coating attributes such as a target texture, taste, and stability to environmental factors. Therefore, a coating which delivers both a desired hue and other target attributes can expand the variety of hard panned confectioneries that can be made for the consumer's enjoyment.